Chapter 1. MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS
DEFINING MEMORY
It is hard to overstate the
importance of memory.
It is what makes us who
we are. Some memories are
the ones we are aware of –
the coffee you enjoyed with
a friend, that time as a child
when the neighbour’s dog
scared you, knowing that
spiders have eight legs, and
the indisputable fact that the
brain is amazing! These are
known as explicit memories –
ones we can consciously recall.
But there are also implicit
memories, which may be even
more important (see below).
For example, when you talk,
you’re using motor memories
MEMORY
Explicit
(conscious)
Implicit
(unconscious)
Long-term
memory
Short-term
memory
Episodic
(events that
happened to
you)
Semantic
(general
knowledge
of the world)
Priming
Procedural
(e.g. motor)
‹‹ HOW
THE BRAIN
STORES
YOUR
MEMORIES
MEMORY IS THE PROCESS
OF ENCODING, STORING, AND
RETRIEVING EXPERIENCES
AND KNOWLEDGE, AND
ITS MANY GUISES ARE EVEN
MORE IMPORTANT THAN
YOU THINK.
to move your lips and tongue
in a way that reproduces
sounds you’ve learnt. When
you walk, you’re using motor
memories to coordinate your
gait.
If we didn’t have memories
we’d just be a body, unable
to communicate or identify
danger and – much like a
newborn baby – oblivious to
how to survive in the world
around us.
In short, memory is crucial in
transforming us from helpless
newborns into capable adults.